The SYSTEM Series - National Alliance to End Homelessness

April 25, 2019 | Toolkits and Training Materials

The SYSTEM (Strengthening Your System to Energize Momentum) Series is designed to help communities more effectively end homelessness by providing various tools that help communities:

Identify areas where they can make the most meaningful improvements to their systems;
Continuously execute on those improvements for the greatest impact, and
Leverage their Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) application for the CoC Program competition to kick-start efforts to build a more effective system.

Please check back regularly, as more resources will be added to this page. And be sure to read more about this effort in a blog by the Alliance’s former Director for the Center for Capacity Building, Cynthia Nagendra.

Preparing for the 2019 CoC Program NOFA

Build an Effective Homeless Response System: Getting Ready for the CoC NOFA

What does an effective homeless response system do? What elements enable a homeless system to make real impacts for people experiencing homelessness? And how can you start thinking about the CoC NOFA as a vehicle to make decisions and investments to achieve such a system?

In this webinar, Alliance experts kick off a new series of webcasts, blogs and resources, all designed to help strengthen your system and prepare for the 2019 CoC NOFA.

Watch and Download Resources

Additional Resources:

Getting Aligned with Housing First

Housing First is among the very most thoroughly established examples of an evidence-based approach to ending homelessness. The following resources can help your system conform to the fundamental principles of Housing First:

Tools:

Housing First Assessment Tool (HUD)
USICH: Housing First Checklist (USICH)
Homeless System Evaluator Tool (National Alliance to End Homelessness)
Stella (HUD)

Reference Guide:
Housing First Fact Sheet

Blogs:
What Housing First Really Means
Why Housing First? Why Not Housing Second? Or Third?

Video:

How to Become a Housing First Shelter

How Shelters Can Shift from High-Barrier to Housing-Focused

Using Data

Using Data Effectively

CoC data is a fundamental tool for understanding any homelessness system’s performance. The following resources explore how to best understand and leverage CoC data, to guide decisions on program investments and allocations.

Tools:
HUD System Performance Measures Guidance
HUD HMIS Fact Sheet
HUD HMIS Data and Technical Standards
Rapid Re-Housing Performance Benchmarks and Program Standards
Rapid Re-Housing Performance Evaluation and Improvement Toolkit

Resources:
The Demographic Data Project
State of Homelessness Report
State Solutions to Ending Family Homelessness
Reallocating Permanent Supportive Housing (2016)

Blogs:
Visualizing Progress: How Do We Translate Data?
Examining Data: Exploring Unsheltered Family Homelessness
Addressing Racial Disparities Among People Experiencing Homelessness: Start with Data

Webinars:
Build an Effective Homeless Response System: Getting Ready for the Coc NOFA

Addressing Racial Inequities

An effective crisis response system serves all clients equitably, regardless of their race. Use new tools to evaluate your system, identify inequities, and make the necessary adjustments.

Blogs:

Racial Disparities in the Homelessness System: Even the NOFA is Telling Us to Act!
Racial Disparities in the Homeless System: Moving Forward
Addressing Racial Disparities Among People Experiencing Homelessness: Start with Data

Resources:

Alliance Racial Equity Network Toolkit
HUD CoC Analysis Tool on Race and Ethnicity

Research and Interactive Data:

Race and Ethnicity: Demographic Data Project - Research Brief
New Data on Race, Ethnicity and Homelessness - Research Blog
Racial Disparities in Homelessness - Interactive Data Visualization
Racial Disparities in Homelessness - Data Snapshot

Ending Chronic Homelessness

People experiencing chronic homelessness often face the greatest vulnerabilities and the highest barriers to existing homelessness. But a system that has effectively aligned its resources around outreach, low-barrier shelter, and the appropriate housing programs, is a system that can end chronic homelessness.